Meet Splash - the worlds first search and recovery otter!
Yep you read that right! I like to think a fun fact brought him into this line of work…his owner/handler Michael Hadsell has been working with dogs, horses, and drones for 45 years in search and recovery. He has a team of dogs that he trains and uses for recovery and cadaver dogs (PS those are separate dogs since you can train one for search and recovery OR cadavers not both). So one day he read an article about otters and how they hunt underwater…by smell. Now dogs are great at recovery BUT they are not very good once water comes in (like all those movies where the prisoners breaking out go through a stream. Which isnt technically correct cause they can pick the scent back up on the other side). Lakes are especially difficult because dogs cant smell underwater. He sent out a call to zoos and aquariums (apparently otters from an exotic animal dealer are ~$15k) and picked up Splash from Phoenix, Arizona. Splash is used nationwide now as a cadaver otter. He likes to “hunt” in groups so is always accompanied by a diver (also for safety). On his first job he found the murder weapon in a lake by the smell of the victims blood on it. In his downtime he enjoys apparently riding the roomba and getting into mischief. Hadsell and his team (canines and otter) have a nonprofit that is based in Florida but takes cases nationwide.
Want to read more about Splash? Check out these links...
https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/environment/splash-the-otter/
He is also on insta @splashsarotter2024
Want to donate to the non-profit team? Find their website here: https://www.prsar.org/theotterproject.html
